Don't Aggravate the Babysitter!

1. We Have....A Situation

It was a cloudy afternoon over all of Sumeru. Which isn't unusual for this time of year, of course, the rainy season was rolling in and Tighnari anticipated many more grey days in the coming months.

Which made this batch or water-repellant gel all the more important to get finished. He doesn't need to be wringing his tail dry every single day. Especially since he ran out of gel just a few days ago.

He poked at the small fire keeping the concoction warm before scooting his chair to the other side of his desk.

Where a stack of unread papers sat.

Where they've sat for the past week.

Because he hates paperwork.

Not just because of how tedious it is but because the way they're written makes his ears bleed. All the legal and regulatory jargon to try and trick him into agreeing to some destructive project of some rich retired scholar with too much free time on his hands.

And too little care for the health of the forests.

So most of the time with paperwork included Tighnari rejecting proposals and drafting letters explaining exactly why it was such a stupid idea in the first place.

Of course, worded in a much more...eloquent way.

But alas, there are only so many ways to eloquently tell someone to fuck off.

This is all besides the point.

He was in the middle of rereading a pamphlet of papers when a dusk bird swooped in to land on his arm. 

It shook itself dry, splattering most of the papers with big blots of water.

Tighnari sighed, "You should really be more careful." He scolded as he untied the small container from the bird's leg.

He receives many letters from dusk birds and this particular one is very well trained. So it should know better than to get so close to his work. 

Though, it seemed the poor little thing was in a hurry so Tighnari will let it slide this time. So he offered a piece of harra fruit, which it happily took.

Now to whatever this letter is...huh...

"Please come to the Office of the Acting Grand Sage immediately. Thank you." it read, in very neat handwriting and stamped with the Lesser Lord's seal.

"Well isn't that interesting." He stated. The bird squawked, heading back on its way.

Tighnari watched it leave and upon seeing the state of the forest, sighed.

It was pouring.

-a long, wet trip later-

Tighnari pulled his rain cloak tighter as he ascended the many many winding pathways up to the Akademiya. 

This had better be something very important to make him come all the way into the city in the archon-forsaken rain. 

He shouldn't forsake the rain though, it's vital for the health of the world. But it's also a pain in his ass sometimes. His tail is going to be so frizzy tomorrow and it's going to be awful.

Grumbling, he shoved open the doors to the Akademiya and trudged inside, his shoes squeaking and squelching with every step across the clean tile floors. He ignored the confused looks on passing students' faces and made a B-line to the House of Daena. As the elevator ascended, he pulled back the hood of his cloak. His ears sprung up and he gently ran his damp gloved hands over them to get rid of the static.